Pack and Go with ZizzyBee Bags #Review + #Giveaway

When we decided that our family vacation would be spent visiting our family in New Jersey, I was super excited. We live in NC, and I hadn't been up to NJ in almost two years. I still love the area of NJ where my uncles live, and love to go back and visit some of the places we frequented when I was growing up. When we go to NJ, we drive up, and this trip was no exception. It's a 10-11 hour drive, which can make for a long day in the car with a three-year-old.

I knew that since we'd be driving our car, which is a Subaru Impreza Hatchback, instead of my dad's Chevy Equinox, we'd really have to pack smart. I began backing several days before we left town, and thanks to some neat products I received, it made the ride much more pleasant and comfortable, and made packing much less stressful.

One of the companies that I was privileged to work with around vacation time, was ZizzyBee Bags. ZizzyBee believes that children bring a ton of fun and whimsy into our lives, along with the need for storage and organization for all of their teeny tiny toys and toy pieces. I couldn't agree more! ZizzyBee Bags was created by Lisa Paul Heydet, who is a full time mom, and entrepreneur. Lisa became frustrated with all of the small toys strewn across her living room floor, and started looking for a good storage solution, but kept coming up short. She noticed that while fabric and plastic bins and tubs can hold a lot, it leaves everything jumbled together, and keeps items hidden from view. An alternative- plastic storage bags, just aren't safe for children's use.

Lisa created Bambino Bags (which is the name the preceded ZizzyBee), because she believes that it is important to keep organized while using products for our children that are safe, washable, well designed, and practical. Thus, Bambino Bags were born in 2012. Once friends got hold of the bags and began telling Lisa how wonderful they were, and that they were being used to store far more than just toys, Lisa decided to rebrand the bags as ZizzyBee Bags. The uses for ZizzyBee Bags are endless, and I couldn't wait to try them out!

Lisa was kind enough to send me my very own set of ZizzyBee Bags!

The ZizzyBee Bags were nicely packaged, and I also received some helpful info and tips for use.

I noticed that there were two ZizzyBee Bags in my package, and I couldn't wait to use them!

I was pleased to find some suggestions for use on the packaging of the ZizzyBee storage Bags. I knew that I was going to use them somehow in our packing, but hadn't quite figured out what I wanted to store in them just yet. The packaging suggested that they could be used for holding snack, toiletries, art supplies, toys, sports gear, diapers/wipes, hair accessories, makeup, swimsuits, purse clutter, etc.

Isn't the front of the packaging cute?

The back of the packaging describes why ZizzyBee Bags are a great choice for storing your items, and how they can be used.

I was ready to put the eco-friendly storage bags to work, so I laid them out on my dining table to take a look at them. I would need to get a good idea of what they could hold size-wise, before deciding what to put into them.

Here are the sizes of the two bags I received- a small one, and a large one.

I noticed right off that the bags were going to really simplify my packing for our trip. I love that the top and bottom strips on the bags are wipeable, that they are see-through, they zip close, and they also have a handy little loop in the top corner- for easy carrying, or attaching to something like a backpack, purse hook, laundry room hook, etc.

I decided to start with the larger ZizzyBee Bag, and wanted to see if I could fit some of B's clothing into it.

As you can see from the photo above, my dining room table was quite the mess as I was packing for our week-long trip. I needed to pack lightly, as the three of us (myself, B, and hubby) would be sharing a suitcase to save space. This meant that I would be rolling clothes, and finding unique ways to make everything fit. B's socks and undies are still small-ish, and though they're perfect to be tucked into pockets and small corners of the suitcase, they often wind up lost once we reach our destination. I don't like having to waste an hour of my vacation, searching for lost, yet clean socks and undies. I decided to roll the undies, and pack them, along with the socks in the larger ZizzyBee Bag. This was 10 pairs of undies and just as many pairs of socks.

All of B's socks and undies, nicely packed and stored for our trip.

I was so impressed that I was able to fit B's items into the bag without having to scrunch them together. They fit nicely, and I had no trouble zipping the bag up. I loved being able to see right through the bag, so I knew exactly what was inside. No guessing games there. I set the zipped ZizzyBee Bag to the side, as I finished some clothes pairing for the week, and once we were ready to pack the suitcase, I laid the ZizzyBee Bag with B's socks and undies packed inside, right on top of the packed clothing. This way, everything was kept together, and was easy to find once we reached our destination.

The second ZizzyBee Bag was a smaller size, and my head was swirling with possible uses for it on our trip.

As I thought about what I wanted to pack into the smaller ZizzyBee storage bag, a light bulb went off in my head. We would be taking B's little backpack along with us on the trip, and I always pack little non-perishable snacks in it, so that no matter where we go, I have snacks on hand. One never knows when lunch or dinner will be while on vacation, and no one wants to deal with tired, hungry, crankies! Moms always have snacks on hand, right? We often run into the problem of the pre-packaged snacks getting lost in the backpack. The backpack isn't large or anything, but when it's jam-packed with other stuff, like Hot Wheels and Rescue Bots, and Leap Pad accessories, the snacks work their way to the bottom of the bag and can be hard to find.

I decided that the smaller bag was the perfect size to hold B's favorite all natural fruit snacks and fruit leathers.

I packed a bunch of snacks into the bag, enough to have in the car while on the road, and for the remainder of the week. We'd be doing a lot of sight-seeing, so I knew this would come in handy.

The loop on the top corner makes it easy to pick the bag up, carry it around, attach to a stroller or diaper bag hook, or simply pick up and transfer from place to place.

I was so glad to have packed the snacks in the ZizzyBee Bag. They were super accessible in the car, in B's backpack, and once we reached our destination, I was able to simply transfer the entire snack bag from B's backpack to my purse, so that I had those snacks on hand for the rest of the trip when we were out and about. It certainly came in handy when B asked for a snack as we walked the streets of NYC, and when my dad's blood sugar dropped and needed a snack ASAP. I knew exactly where to find the snacks, and that helped me be able to quickly take care of my son, and my dad.

Not too large, yet not too small. The ZizzyBee Bags are perfect for holding just about anything!

Now that we're home from our vacation, I still plan on using the ZizzyBee Bags. The larger bag is perfect for organizing a few toys to keep in the car for B, like small cars, a coloring book and a pack of crayons, etc. We're on the go a lot, and spend a lot of time in the car, so I like to make sure that we always have entertainment on hand for our little guy. I'll also keep on using the smaller bag for holding small snacks. We're headed to the mountains this weekend, and I'll be using the bag to hold simple snacks and juice pouches for B and his Cousin C.

I'd love to add even more ZizzyBee Bags to my collection. I can think of tons of ways to use them! I'd love to pack one of those storage bags with tissues, band-aids, hand sanitizer, etc, to keep in the car. I'd also love to keep a few note cards, stamps and a nice pen in one of the bags, which I can keep accessible in my office space, for when I need to send a greeting card. I have a huge card organizer, but can never find anything, because it's so stuffed full!

ZizzyBee Bags are a wonderful alternative to jumbo storage bins and plastic bags. I hate to admit to this, but my family is absolutely guilty of using plastic storage bags way too often... and guess what? They just get thrown into the garbage. We can't recycle them, so we just wind up adding to the waste. With ZizzyBee Bags, we can feel good about using them, because they're polyester bags, which zip closed, and can be washed and re-used again and again.

Take a minute and get to know Lisa, founder of ZizzyBee Bags & listen to her story...

As a parent, I'd just like to thank Lisa for taking the initiative to make ZizzyBee Bags possible. They are so versatile, and so wonderful to have on hand. I can't imagine not using these bags once you have them! ZizzyBee Bags make great gifts for moms- think of all the stuff these can hold and organize in the diaper bag! They're perfect for back to school time, and they're great tools for teaching your kiddos responsibility when it comes to taking care of their own belongings.

BPA FREE * NO PHTHALATES * WASHABLE * REUSABLE

Want them? Buy them!

Head on over to ZizzyBee Bags to take a look around and get to know more about Lisa, and the ZizzyBee story. ZizzyBee Bags have generated a lot of buzz lately, and once you have these handy bags in hand, you'll know exactly why! ZizzyBee Bags is offering a 20% off promo on all orders through the end of July, on the ZizzyBee Bags website. Just use the code zizzy20 at checkout. ZizzyBee Bags is social and would love to connect with you through Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest.

Want them? Win them!

One lucky MBP reader will win their own set of ZizzyBee Bags- just in time for the back to school season! What will you use these awesome bags for? Giveaway is open to US residents, 18 and older. Just use the Rafflecopter entry form below to enter to win!

Special thanks to Lisa and the team at ZizzyBee Bags for allowing us to try and share about their wonderful, reusable storage bags, and for offering this special giveaway for our readers!

Good luck!